Chapter 149: First Arrival in Salt City 2

Kent and his companions made their way along the broad streets of Salt City.

If not for the fiery red glow shining from the distant volcanoes, Kent might almost have believed that he had returned to a city on the surface.

The layout was practically identical.

There were small taverns, inns, shops, and even scantily dressed women standing along the streets, tugging playfully at passing customers and trying to persuade them to come inside for a drink.

After looking around for a while, Kent found a large tavern that allowed magical pets inside.

There were already plenty of customers sitting with their magical companions, and some of the beasts were even drinking alongside their masters.

Salt City was very different from Muan City. There were no strict restrictions here on brewing or selling alcohol.

As long as you had money, there was no shortage of liquor.

“Waiter! Bring us a barrel of fruit wine, three cups, and some roasted meat and fruit.”

Kent led the Dragon Turtle into the tavern.

Over the past half month, the creature had gradually learned to shrink its body. It was now only about two meters long and just under a meter tall, making it look little different from an ordinary turtle-type magical beast.

Its shell, however, had become even more translucent.

It gleamed almost like colored crystal, giving the Dragon Turtle the appearance of a rare gemstone-type magical beast.

“Certainly, sir. Thirty diamond coins, please.”

The waiter moved with impressive speed. Within moments, everything Kent had ordered had been placed on the table.

Payment was required in advance.

That was simply how business was done in the Underdark.

Kent looked at the barrel of wine, which held only a few dozen pounds. The roasted meat was at least quite good, while the so-called fruit consisted of a kind of black-skinned berry that grew near volcanoes.

As far as Kent knew, it was also the only true fruit commonly found in the Underdark.

He paid without argument.

Even so, his heart ached.

Thirty diamond coins!

That was already half a mithril coin.

Back on the surface, everything on this table would have cost no more than a handful of ordinary silver coins—and for that price, the wine would have been high-quality ale, not this inferior liquor brewed from some kind of fern.

But there was nothing Kent could do about it.

The Underdark was extraordinarily rich in mineral deposits, which meant metals were far less valuable here than they were on the surface.

Gulp!

A loud swallowing sound suddenly came from beside him.

By the time Kent turned around, the entire barrel was already empty.

The Dragon Turtle sat there swaying its head from side to side, looking thoroughly pleased with itself.

Before entering the city, Kent had strictly forbidden it from speaking. If it dared reveal that it could talk, Kent had promised there would be consequences.

That was the only reason the Dragon Turtle had remained so unusually quiet.

Kent gave a helpless smile.

Coming into a tavern had clearly been a mistake.

After spending so much time with the Dragon Turtle, he had gained a rough understanding of just how much the creature could eat and drink.

At this rate, even if Kent sold himself, the money probably still wouldn’t be enough to cover the Dragon Turtle’s drinking expenses.

He leaned toward it and warned quietly,

“Five barrels. That’s all you’re getting today. You’ll have plenty of chances to drink again later.”

The Dragon Turtle immediately nodded.

Kent sighed and called for the waiter to bring more wine.

Under the waiter’s increasingly astonished gaze, several hundred pounds of liquor disappeared into the Dragon Turtle’s stomach.

It wasn’t that magical beasts drinking alcohol was unusual.

In fact, most magical beasts enjoyed liquor, including many fire-element creatures.

But this particular beast could drink far too much.

Meanwhile, Kent and Daphne quietly ate their roasted meat and fruit, occasionally leaning toward one another and exchanging a few words.

Around them, however, more and more people began glancing curiously in their direction.

The combination was simply too strange.

Dark elves were famously disdainful of humans. No one had ever heard of a dark elf willingly becoming romantically involved with one.

Yet Kent and Daphne clearly looked like a young couple.

That alone was enough to leave the nearby customers secretly puzzled.

Then there was the little “earth rat” eating roasted meat beside them.

Earth rats were normally regarded as one of the Underdark’s common food sources, yet this one was sitting at the table eating meat like a person.

And finally, there was the turtle-type magical beast.

Turtle beasts were most commonly used by merchants. They tended to be slow and lacked strong offensive abilities, though their excellent defenses made them somewhat popular among warriors.

But the young human was obviously dressed like a mage, while the dark elf girl carried the equipment of an archer.

Neither of them seemed to have any particular need for a defensive turtle-type companion.

After studying the group for a while, the other customers gradually arrived at what they considered the most reasonable explanation.

This young human mage must somehow have tricked an innocent, inexperienced dark elf girl into running away with him.

Once that thought occurred to them, the looks they gave Kent changed completely.

They were no longer merely curious.

They were filled with admiration.

“Daphne, are you finished eating? If you are, let’s get going. We’ll take a look around Salt City first, then decide where to go next.”

Kent had grown increasingly uncomfortable under the burning gazes of the people around them, so he leaned closer to Daphne and spoke in a low voice.

The Dragon Turtle, meanwhile, had already wrapped its forelegs around yet another barrel and was drinking away happily.

Kent knew perfectly well how enormous the creature’s true body was, so its appetite didn’t surprise him in the slightest.

The people around them, however, had no such knowledge.

To them, the sight of such a relatively small turtle-type magical beast emptying barrel after barrel of wine was nothing short of bizarre.

“Hahaha! Brat, we’ve finally found you! The mage wanted by the dark elves!”

Just as Kent and Daphne were preparing to leave, a large group of fully armed soldiers suddenly stormed into the tavern.

The officer leading them spotted Kent immediately and shouted at the top of his lungs.

Without even looking, he kicked aside the Dragon Turtle’s wine barrel, which happened to be blocking his path, and reached out as though he intended to seize Kent on the spot.

Not far away, on the upper floor of a tall building overlooking the street, another scene was unfolding.

“Young Lord, with Captain Martin personally handling the matter, you can simply sit back and enjoy the show.”

A richly dressed middle-aged man stood slightly behind a young nobleman, speaking in an ingratiating tone.

“We’ve already investigated them thoroughly. There are only the two of them. Someone spotted them traveling toward Salt City as early as a week ago, and they were laughing and chatting together the entire way.”

He lowered his voice further.

“We also checked with the dark elves. None of their people have gone missing recently. As long as we move quickly enough... hehe.”

The young man standing before him had a broad, fleshy face and an unmistakably arrogant expression.

“Mm. You’ve done well.”

He spoke as though rewarding a servant.

“I’ll increase your share of the salt mines by half a percent. But make sure this matter is handled properly.”

His eyes narrowed.

“If you fail... hmph.”

The middle-aged man’s eyes immediately lit up at the mention of an additional share of the salt mines.

The salt deposits around Salt City were jointly controlled by several major races.

The dark elves and dwarves together held more than half of the total share, while the remainder was divided between the gnomes and humans.

Even half a percent represented an enormous amount of wealth.

The middle-aged man hurriedly bowed.

“Thank you, Young Lord! I understand exactly what must be done.”

Back inside the tavern, Kent watched the soldiers surround him and Daphne.

Then he looked at the overturned wine barrel.

The moment he saw what they had done, he knew nothing good was going to come of this.

Still, these people had made one extremely unfortunate mistake.

They had kicked over the Dragon Turtle’s wine.

Kent almost felt sorry for them.

The Dragon Turtle had been frustrated for quite some time lately, and now a group of people had practically volunteered to become targets for its anger.

All Kent needed to do was sit back and enjoy the show.

Before that, however, he wanted to find out who was behind this little scheme.

“My lord, could you perhaps have mistaken me for someone else?”

Kent deliberately allowed his voice to tremble.

“I’m a mage, after all.”

By now, everyone inside the tavern and along nearly half the street had already been driven away.

Hundreds of fully armed soldiers occupied the road outside, including a considerable number of archers positioned farther back.

From the scale of the deployment, it appeared that an entire company had been mobilized.

Whoever was behind this had certainly gone to considerable trouble.

“A mage?”

One of the soldiers standing beside Martin suddenly burst out laughing.

“Hahaha! A mage? What kind of worthless mage are you supposed to be? Do you even know who our captain is? Captain Martin is one of the personal guards of the City Lord’s estate—”

The soldier looked particularly sharp and eager, clearly believing he had found the perfect opportunity to flatter his superior.

Unfortunately for him, he had also revealed far more than he should have.

Martin’s expression immediately darkened.

He swung his hand and slapped the man hard across the face.

Then he turned toward the rest of the soldiers and roared,

“Seize them!”

His voice echoed through the street.

“If the criminals resist—kill them on the spot!”